


on the principles of art

by minshuas



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Teachers, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-22
Updated: 2019-07-22
Packaged: 2020-07-10 04:28:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19899832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minshuas/pseuds/minshuas
Summary: “Do you have a minute?” Wonwoo asks him, not leaving the doorway.He does. Exactly thirty minutes of it, and he’s willing to give it all to Wonwoo.





	on the principles of art

**Author's Note:**

> I've been working on this for my whole summer, but I still haven't finished it... RIP, but that's completely my style. The rest of this will be coming soon since I'm still working on it, but I just couldn't find the time to finish everything I had planned. Still, I let this get completely out of my hands and wrote as much as I could for such a small prompt... dlkjldg. So! I really am so blessed to have been working with my artist. They really blew me away with how beautiful their artwork was and I'm totally in love with it. I'm really, really not worthy, especially with how I couldn't even finish this fic... 
> 
> I did some research for this fic, but I may have gotten some things wrong since I couldn't find specific things that I needed to. I'm a teacher so I got to put a little bit of myself in this one! I've been wanting to write this for awhile, so I'm glad I had the chance to start it, and I know I make promises about finishing things, but never do, but I'm invested in this one since it is about something so personal. 
> 
> So, enjoy the beautiful artwork and the first half of this mess! I'll update this ASAP when I have posted the rest.  
> 

( **pre**.) 

Impolitely, Soonyong is shamelessly staring at Jisoo as he pours his coffee. It is as though the action is new to him, as though he hasn’t been watching it happen for five years now. He blames it on today, it being the first day of school. If he hadn’t been up all night looking over his lesson plans, then he probably, _probably_ , wouldn’t be this rude.

Jisoo looks up once his cup is poured and tilts his head towards the coffee pot. “Do you want a cup?” The way his brow furrows makes Soonyoung worry unnecessarily. 

They’ve known each other for as long as they’ve been teaching. Jisoo had been hired on the same day that Soonyoung was, The public primary school in Gangnam had been looking for an English teacher, and the secondary school needed an arts teacher. Right before his interview, he met Jisoo (who had been striking conversation with the new secondary arts teacher), and was indirectly informed that the job posting he was there for had been filled immediately upon meeting the brilliant, charming, young Park Siyeon. He could see why, just in the way she held herself. 

Instead of walking away dejectedly though, Soonyoung went into the interview and spun statistics about the implementation of a primary arts program. Honestly, he thought he didn’t have a chance, but he was hired on the spot too (well, twenty-four hours later after a couple meetings about allocating funds and arguments about where his classroom would be placed). It couldn’t have worked out any more in his favor.

“No,” Soonyoung answers, shaking himself out of his reverie. “Just trying to get back into the groove.” It’s just the first day. Every day after today will come easier, but he has to get through today first. He just has to get through today first. 

Jisoo nods, putting the pot back on the burner. With his cup in hand, he leans his back against the counter to face Soonyoung. “Have you met the new teachers yet?” Unconsciously, his brow lifts. This is a conversation topic that he’s not exactly interested in. Soonyoung could care less about the new teachers, but Jisoo was always ready to make a new friend. His job title might have well been “Solidarity Enforcer” because he made sure that all the teachers were on the same page. As impossible of a job that it was, Jisoo did it well. 

Shrugging, Soonyoung glances out the window at the bustling just-arriving teachers. All are familiar faces. He doesn’t see any of the new teachers that Jisoo has mentioned. Maybe they are already here, excited for the first day of their teaching career. Soonyoung remembers when he was like that. Now the first day is just the first day, and the last is sanctuary. It is the between that it important to him because that’s when he gets to teach his craft. 

“They’re handsome,” Jisoo compliments quietly into his cup. The words surprise Soonyoung, bringing his gaze back to the man in front of him. Now, he's somewhat interested in the conversation. “Younger, around our age maybe.” A sly smile appears on his face as he realizes that he has Soonyoung’s attention now. It’s the simple things that impress Soonyoung, like attractive men. “I haven’t spoken to any of them yet, but supposedly there’s three of them.”

Three teachers all replacing teachers that had been there for almost twenty, thirty years. It would be a hard adjustment for the rest of the faculty because these teachers would be fresh-faced with a million questions and no answers. Soonyoung wasn’t really excited to have new coworkers for that reason exactly. He was a man of familiarity and structure (at least when it came to his job). 

“Are they all _new_ teachers?” He lifts a brow. When they went in for their interviews, the committee had informed them that they were looking for “fresh faces.” Soonyoung bets that if all these new teachers are young, then the school is just continuing their agenda. Soon, all the teachers would be born after 1994. 

_What a thought…_

Jisoo shrugs. “I haven’t heard much. One is a transfer though.”

“From secondary?” He asks even though Jisoo won’t have the answer. All he gets is another shrug. 

“If I find out more, I’ll let you know.” He smiles, easy and sincere before taking another sip. “For now,” he crosses over to the copier, grabbing his lesson plans from the top, “I’m going to go teach English to the little ones.” On his way out, he hits Soonyoung with the papers in his hands and promises that they can catch up at lunch. 

Soonyoung checks the clock. Fifteen minutes before class starts. 

Sighing, he grabs his plans from the copier and stops by Seungcheol’s office. “New year,” he says brightly. Seungcheol sees right through him, rolling his eyes while his fingers stale. From the doorway, Soonyoung can tell that he’s writing an email, but he can’t make out the small print no matter how hard he tries. “Where are the newbies at?” 

“Already gave them all the talk, so I suppose they are in their classrooms already. Why?” He leans back in his chair, email forgotten. When he turns and narrows his eyes, Sooyoung pretends like he wasn’t trying to read a confidential email. 

“Wanted to size them up,” he answers, picking up a new trinket on Seungcheol’s desk. Jisoo gets him one every school year. This year is an oddity, probably from his hometown, engraved with English that Soonyoung can’t begin to read. Well, maybe he could, but it’s way too early in the morning for his brain to work, let alone in English. After a holiday of late night drinking and dancing, he just can’t be bothered to try to be functional on the first day. 

Seungcheol laughs. “They are good people, Soonyoung. Just make sure you don’t scare them away.” Turning back to his computer, he whistles, checking the time on his computer. “You’ll already have a class, you should get to them.” 

“Yeah,” he smiles. Even though he doesn’t have a class first period, he doesn’t pick fights with the boss man. “Have a good day! I’ll try to be nice to the new meat!” He claps his hands together, lesson plan crumpling between his hands. Then he’s slipping out of the office, waving a quick hello to Kyungwon before heading down the north hallway towards his classroom. This is the start to a new year.

( **balance**.)

These children stare up at him with blank, bored expressions; these are children who aren’t used to being taught art so early in their lives. It’s sad, Soonyoung thinks, because they are all squirming to be in classrooms that will teach them valuable skills. Little do they know how valuable this class could be if only they would open themselves to it. In Germany, Soonyoung had co-taught a painting course. He would take his students outdoors and make them paint whatever they felt or heard or saw. The reckless abandon in their expressions and their artwork had made teaching worthwhile. It isn’t that these children don’t have that same reckless abandon. No, it is that they don’t know they have it. 

It is Soonyoung’s job to teach them how to unlock it. 

“Get yourself familiar with the layout of the room today. I want each of you to submit an artwork before you leave class today. This piece will introduce me to your knowledge of art. I’m judging it on intimacy and effort. I will answer no questions. All the cabinets are labelled with what is inside them. The canvas you will use is at the corner of my desk.” He’s curt now, but with time, the children will learn how he opens up. Their progression in art will mirror their progression with him. Those who fall in love with art will see the real Soonyoung underneath the professional one. 

The scene is almost comical. Kids running into each other as they bustle around trying to figure out what they should be doing. He’s given them no criteria to be judged on other than effort. There’s no theme. Most of these children aren’t old enough to understand the complexity of art, so Soonyoung doesn’t stand up and preach about lines and shading. Art should be about feeling. 

Although, he wants to teach the basics too. Just… He wants a baseline to go off of first. 

Thirty-five minutes drudge on while Soonyoung pretends to annotate the textbook that he’s supposed to be teaching from. A bunch of it is total bullshit, but he doesn’t _totally_ discredit the sixty year old author who definitely has never actually taught an art class to elementary schoolers. When Soonyoung mentioned getting new textbooks, this was definitely not what he had meant. Next time, he would be submitting some choices for Seungcheol to send to the committee instead of just letting them decide on it separately from him. 

“Finish up your drawings and place all your supplies back in the proper place. For anyone who can’t follow those directions, consequences will follow.” He dismisses the children when his alarm goes off. They fumble with their belongings, trying to remember where everything goes within the allotted time or rushing to finish their pieces. They are so young, but expectation weighs heavily on their shoulders. Soonyoung finds solace in knowing he will ease up on them eventually. 

For now, he needed to establish authority. He’s always had trouble with that.   
(He blames his own father, but that’s a can of worms he’s not opening.)

“Good day,” one of the students from overseas bows unsteadily, pudgy fingers resting by his knees. The sight makes Soonyoung smile. _Yongbok_ , he thinks his name is, but he can’t recall most of his class list. It is just that there are so few international students. The freckles on his cheeks stand out. 

Rolling his eyes, Soonyoung bows back. “Good day,” he wishes him in return. 

.

It turns out that Yongbok is a bit of an attention-stealer. 

“Such a polite boy!” Jisoo claps his hands together in a way that makes Soonyoung want to laugh at him. This cutesy act that he is putting on for the new teachers doesn’t go unnoticed by Siyeon either. She gags in Soonyoung’s direction and he can’t help but laugh aloud. 

“He’s a real weirdo is what he is,” Soonyoung says, pulling out the piece of artwork that he had done during his class. Honestly, he doesn’t know what it is, but he thinks it is an anthropomorphic sun. There’s a television program that it reminds him of, but he isn’t entirely sure if that’s the inspiration. Yongbok does seem like a Teletubbies type of kid though. “I’m both amazed and horrified to find out what other ideas he might have.” 

One of the new teachers, Mingyu, the one that Jisoo is trying to impress (anyone who has eyes can see why), points a fork at Soonyoung. He’d be insulted if he weren’t so distracted by the way that Mingyu’s hair is perfectly coiffed. “His etiquette is impressive for his age, but there’s a language barrier, obviously.” He stabs into his salad with a youthful energy that Soonyoung wishes he still possessed on days like today. Admittedly, he was ready for naptime. 

Jisoo shrugs. “That’ll be fixed. He’s early enough along,” he says. “Getting him to stop picking up every bug he sees and presenting it as an affectionate present… That’ll be the real challenge.” 

“Would you like a beetle?” Mingyu cups his hands and holds his hands out to Jisoo. Soonyoung snorts rudely at the flush that steals over Jisoo's features. 

With red cheeks, Jisoo takes the imaginary beetle into his hands and makes a disgusted, but kind face. “Why thank you, Yongbok.” He says, lowering his voice. They are mocking someone, but that’s the part that Soonyoung can’t figure out. When he glances over at the other teacher, Wonwoo, he notices there is a sheepish look on his face. He looks strangely shy. 

“I’m not used to these younger children,” he says into his meal. 

Mingyu explains when Wonwoo doesn’t immediately. “He’s been moved from university to here.” 

Siyeon leans forward, suddenly interested. “I’ve always wanted to try teaching older children.” She admits, resting her head on her hands. “Did you like it? Why did you move grades?” 

“I didn’t move grades because I wanted to,” Wonwoo answers with a shrug, putting his chopsticks down to give his attention to the conversation. “When you’ve been teaching for awhile, sometimes they move you where they need you. They had plenty of university teachers, not enough primary school ones. The solution was simple.” Soonyoung thinks that a look of hurt flashes across his face. Being loyal to the school district didn’t mean that it would be loyal in return. 

“Why you?” Soonyoung asks, swallowing the last of his lunch. 

Wonwoo shrugs again. “Bad luck, I guess.” Yeah, he’s definitely hurt by this change. 

Siyeon and Jisoo, forever the optimists, exchange a look across the table. “Maybe,” Jisoo starts, still looking at Siyeon to make sure they are on the same page. Their unspoken conversations are one of Soonyoung’s biggest pet peeves (at least when he’s the outsider, but right now isn’t about him). “Maybe this is good luck.” 

Nodding in agreement, Siyeon reaches over to touch the top of Wonwoo’s hands. “You might learn to love primary school. It’s a really important age in a person’s life. You have the ability to really impact the children. Soonyoung’s wonderful at it.” She gestures towards him, making him flush. The compliment isn’t anything he hasn’t heard before, but it still flusters him to hear that he’s impacting lives. “Offering art classes to young children… It is just the thing they need to break up their busy schedules. Most of these kids don’t even go home after lunch like they are supposed to. They have extra activities to complete or more classes to take…” She purses her lips. “They overwork themselves and they need something to enjoy.” 

Soonyoung’s definitely red in the face now if he wasn’t before. “Not many of my kids end up liking art,” he sticks his hands out, clearing up the possible misunderstanding. “I’m no miracle worker, I just try to get them to think more creatively in general. I think it is a good skill to have.” 

Wonwoo nods as Mingyu keeps eating. Soonyoung worries that if he doesn’t pause to breathe, he’ll die. Still, he looks somewhat engaged in the conversation. “Soonyoug is downplaying himself.” Jisoo laughs, “Even if the kids don’t like art, they fall in love with Soonyoung by the end of it. A good teacher is something a kid will remember for life.” 

Mingyu points at Jisoo, apparently agreeing with him. “True. I remember my favorite teacher.” 

Raising a brow, Jisoo silently says _Told you so_ and Soonyoung silently wants to sock him in the arm. “I’m not that great. I don’t _do_ anything.” He pouts, sliding down in his seat. Siyeon laughs, rolling her eyes as she takes a drink from her water bottle. 

“It is just your personality.” She says, standing up and collecting her dishes. “Wonwoo, Mingyu, if you need help, then ask Soonyoung. We all work as a team and he’s obviously the leader. Even if he tries to say otherwise.” Sweeping her hair over her shoulder, she gives them a sickly sweet smile. “I’m going to go say hi to the other girls.” She announces her departure with a polite bow. “It was nice to meet you both. I’m excited to get to work with you, even if we won't see each other much.” 

Before anyone can respond, the door is closing behind her. 

“We are a team,” Jisoo says with a smile that Soonyoung could only describe as deadly. “That means we work together, so make sure we all stay on the same page. If you need anything, we are here to help you.” He’s still smiling, but since Soonyoung knows him, he knows that Jisoo is asserting his seniority; he wants them to lean on him if they need help. “Please, don’t hesitate to ask us if there’s something you’d like to know. I know when we were new, it was hard to adjust.” 

“I can’t imagine being moved all of a sudden.” Soonyoung blurts out, almost clapping his hand over his mouth in response to himself. Wonwoo looks over at him strangely, like he’s just now noticed he’s sitting there still. Risking himself looking like an idiot, Soonyoung adds on. “The adjustment has to be hard. If you have any problems… let me know. I had no idea how to run an art course at this age, but you figure it all out. Practice makes perfect and all that.” 

As Mingyu stands up to leave, Wonwoo flashes Soonyoung a soft smile. “Thank you,” he says and Soonyoung almost believes there is gratitude behind it. “I’ll keep that in mind.” 

_A team_ , Siyeon had said… Soonyoung had no idea how to operate a team, but they had made him their leader. Now, here he was trying to take the reigns because of the new additions to their “team.” Jisoo leaves after Mingyu, not bothering to announce his departure. Wonwoo quietly finishes his food and because it feels wrong to leave him, Soonyoung stays, pretending to find interest in his empty lunch dish until Wonwoo’s finished.

At the door, Wonwoo stops, looking back at Soonyoung. “Thank you.” He says quietly.   
Soonyoung’s too surprised to reply, just nods and watches as Wonwoo leaves. 

( **gradation**.)

Days go by without Soonyoung thinking about the awkward exchange in the lunchroom. They still eat there everyday (except for Wednesday when they all go out), so he still runs into Wonwoo, but he tries to put the memory of their meeting up on the highest shelf. He doesn’t want to reach it. During lunch, they don’t talk much anymore. It is the rough first week. No one has enough copies and lessons don’t last long enough or last way too long. Everyone is just trying to figure it out. Even Jisoo and Siyeon pour over their plans. 

Soonyoung can’t relate, but he offers support where he can give it. 

Which means that he does absolutely nothing until someone comes to him asking for help with this or that. Wonwoo is the one to break the seal, coming into his classroom at the end of the standard five periods. Soonyoung still has two afternoon “programs” to teach.

“Do you have a minute?” Wonwoo asks him, not leaving the doorway.   
He does. Exactly thirty minutes of it, and he’s willing to give it all to Wonwoo. 

Nodding, Soonyoung turns to place the last canvas atop of his, as he’s dubbed it, Canvas Mountain. All of those would be loaded into his car at the end of the day so he could grade them in the comfort of his own home. Something about grading at work made him harsher, so whenever an art project is finished he takes it home instead of grading it during his free time. There are other things to do during his free time anyway, like help Wonwoo. 

When he’s sure that Canvas Mountain is not going to topple, he turns back towards Wonwoo with that sunny, warm smile of his. The last thing he wants to do is scare him off. “What’s up?” He claps his hands on his black slacks, only realizing his mistake afterwards. 

“You have a quite beautiful cloud on your thigh,” Wonwoo says, holding back a laugh which surprises Soonyoung genuinely. In all the times he’s seen Wonwoo since the year has started, he has been serious and stern. Yongbok adored him, but all the other children didn’t have anything kind to say about the new teacher. Soonyoung deduced that it was because Wonwoo was boring: just a normal, run-of-the-mill primary school teacher to normal, run-of-the-mill primary students. The only exception was Yongbok, who is _definitely_ not a normal child in any way, shape, or form. Soonyoung loves the kid, but he is an outlier when it comes to data collection. 

Sticking his tongue out, Soonyoung steps closer to him until they are at a comfortable distance from one another. “Artistic statement,” he supplies. “Although dammit, I don’t have any time to run home and change.” Shaking his head, he crosses his arms. “Whatever, what’s up with you?”

Wonwoo finally closes the door (and Soonyoung has to stop himself from cheering aloud). “I just wanted to ask about Wednesday. I read in the email that we are supposed to stay after hours?” 

“On Wednesdays we wear pink,” Soonyoung quotes haughtily, pretending to flip hair over his shoulder. The joke only stops being funny when Wonwoo doesn’t laugh, just stares at him in confusion.

“I didn’t see that in the email?” He reaches into his pocket, presumably for his phone, but Soonyoung stops him with a strangled noise. The innocence in his confusion is so endearing. It has been entirely too long since they’ve had a coworker like Wonwoo. Soonyoung wonders how he lasted teaching older kids… When Soonyoung taught adults, he had been completely corrupted by their attitudes and frustrations. Wonwoo didn’t seem to be corrupted yet. 

Soonyoung swallows his laughter, “It wasn’t in it. I was quoting a shitty Western movie that is a classical masterpiece, but clearly you haven’t seen it. Which… We definitely have to change that sometime.” He replies, pointing a finger at him. “No one knows me _and_ hasn’t seen Mean Girls, that’s just blasphemy.” 

“Oh, it’s a movie.” Wonwoo nods, then looks back at the door as though he needs to find a quick escape already. Wow, Soonyoung really _is_ blowing this already somehow. “So…?”

Snapping himself out of his headspace, he finally answers Wonwoo. “Sorry, anyways, Wednesday. We all get together after school for an activity and we go out for lunch. It is pretty simple really. You just have to pull yourself away from whatever you are doing and come join us. I guess it isn’t mandatory, but Siyeon gets upset when not everyone is there.” 

“I couldn’t make it last week,” he explains without prompting. “You wouldn’t believe the amount of trouble I’ve had with moving.” Soonyoung nods, unable to find the words to reply. He’s honestly confused why Wonwoo is here. For a brief moment, he actually thinks that Wonwoo might be lonely. A new city, a new workplace… It must be loneliness, because Soonyoung’s answered his question and he’s not asking anything else. 

Soonyoung shrugs. “Siyeon won’t ream you yet, no worries. Just try to come tomorrow, yeah?” 

His lips are pursed, Soonyoung notices. “I’ll try.” 

“Are things still troubling? With moving?” Soonyoung prompts this time since Wonwoo seems oddly on edge. “If you need help, I’m sure that I could help you. Plus there’s always Jisoo and Siyeon. Seungcheol, even though you two aren’t on familiar terms yet, seems intimidating, but he’s always ready to lend a hand.” He offers, feeling oddly charitable towards him. 

Still, lips pursed. It bothers Soonyoung to the point where he almost wants to go over and squeeze his cheeks. Whatever is bothering Wonwoo is now bothering Soonyoung because it is causing _that_ look on his face. “If it wouldn’t be an inconvenience…” Wonwoo starts. 

Soonyoung, in Soonyoung fashion, interrupts him. “The only inconvenience is that you are trying to work while you don’t even have a proper home yet. Let us help you. Actually, I’ll help you and bring it up with the others, alright? You can deal with whatever and we’ll move boxes or whatever you need done.” Would the others be on board? Probably. Well, maybe not, but Soonyoung could be very convincing. Plus he’s going to sell it as a Wednesday activity, so everyone will have already taken the time out of their schedules anyway. 

He’s got it all sorted already. Easy-peasey. 

“Really?” Wonwoo asks, eyes wide, and Soonyoung realizes that he doesn’t believe him. 

“Really,” Soonyoung nods, earnestly. “We are a team, right? We are here for one another. You are part of this team now, so you’ll have to live with it.” Shrugging, he crosses his arms over his chest again, glancing at the clock. He has plenty of time still, but he has no idea what to do with his pants. It really isn’t going to work if he shows up like this. Wonwoo is the only person who would believe this is an actual artistic statement. 

Now, there’s a smile on Wonwoo’s face. It makes Soonyoung smile. 

For a minute, they just share a moment. It feels like the start of something, but Soonyoung swallows that feeling away. He doesn’t want to get his hopes up because things aren’t ever this easy. With Jisoo, they butted heads for weeks. Friendship is never just this simple for him. 

Breaking him out of his thoughts, Wonwoo turns back towards the door. “I have a spare.” 

“Excuse me?” Soonyoung finds himself gaping unattractively at Wonwoo. 

It garners a laugh from Wonwoo. “Dress pants. I have a spare in my bag. Come on.” 

In silence, they walk the deserted hallways until they stop in front of what is presumably Wonwoo’s classroom. It was an educated guess, really, because Soonyoung has no clue where anything in their buildings are… Well, he knows where the cafeteria and the office are at least. The location of Joshua’s classroom remains a mystery to him. 

Wonwoo unlocks the door, stepping aside to let Soonyoung in first before he heads over to rummage through the bag sitting under his desk. He's way too trusting to keep his bag there, but Soonyoung doesn’t critique him. Maybe he doesn’t keep anything too important in it. 

When he returns to Soonyoung’s side, he’s produced a pair of black slacks that are ideally identical to the ones that Soonyoung is wearing. Plain, boring, no white stain that looks vaguely like a cloud. “They might be too long.” He says, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. “I didn’t think about it until just now.” 

Neither did Soonyoung admittedly. He laughs, waving his hand in the air. “I’ll try them still. Maybe they’ll still work.” And with no further ado, he toes his shoes off, then tugs his pants down right there in the middle of Wonwoo’s empty classroom. He doesn’t miss the way that Wonwoo flushes bright red before he turns away. Soonyoung’s foolish boldness is unexpected, but he’ll have to get used to it. This is far from the weirdest thing that Soonyoung’s done. 

Once Wonwoo’s pants on are, Soonyoung huffs. “You were right, damn.” 

Pursing his lips, Wonwoo appears to be in thought. “Maybe I can fix them.” He says, going back to his bag and digging out a small kit. “Go stand on that chair.” There’s purpose in his voice and it springs Soonyoung into action. Before he really understands why, he’s standing atop the nearest chair, looking down at Wonwoo who is opening the kit. 

A needle. Oh.   
He’s got a sewing kit. 

“I can hem them, I think. It should work for today at least.” He says, threading his needle with the utmost concentration. Really, Jeon Wonwoo is way too nice for his own good. No one else that Soonyoung knows would go through this for him. It’s just a pair of pants that he’s dirtied. He should have just left them on and kept his mouth shut. That’s what a respectable person would have done. Now he has Wonwoo kneeling in front of him to hem his own pair of pants for Soonyoung to wear for one night. 

This shit just can’t be made up. 

Keeping quiet because he’s sure that he’ll say something stupid if he does decide to talk, Soonyoung just watches Wonwoo work. Wonwoo doesn’t talk either, just pokes his tongue out as he concentrates on weaving the needle through the fabric. Once one leg is finished, he moves to the other, smiling up at Soonyoung before continuing his job. 

_What_ _  
_ _the_   
fuck. 

If Soonyoung’s stomach does a somersault, it is because Jisoo was right. The new teachers are incredibly handsome. Mingyu has model proportions and the friendliest face meanwhile Wonwoo looks cold, but smiles like the warmest summer day. That’s it. There’s nothing else going on. They’ll be coworkers who have lunch together and gossip about parents. Soonyoung has long given up on the hope that he’ll run into something promising. Thirty and lonely? How else should he be living? Really. 

“Thank you.” Soonyoung stutters out, climbing down and pushing the chair back in. “I really appreciate it.” Then he forces his gaze away from Wonwoo, looks towards the clock. “Oh, shit, I gotta go.” He doesn’t sound sincere, but Wonwoo doesn’t know him well enough to call him out on it. “I’ll see you tomorrow? We’ll all help you with the moving thing!” 

Only as he turns towards the door does he risk looking at Wonwoo again.   
He’s not smiling, but his stomach still feels uneasy. 

It must be whatever he had for lunch. That’s it. There’s absolutely nothing going on here. He can’t delude himself into having hopes nor can he form a secondary school crush on him because he’s handsome and nice. Soonyoung would not be that person; he isn’t that person. So, he leaves Wonwoo’s company to hurry back to the safety of his own classroom. 

For the next fifteen minutes, he tries not to think about how Wonwoo smiled up at him. 

. 

“Mingyu says he helped him move the last of his boxes this morning.” Jisoo says, pulling out another paper to copy from his binder. “I was surprised that his place was so nice.” 

Soonyoung shrugs, leaning on the counter beside the copier. “He said it belonged to his grandfather or great uncle or something.” He glances down at his fingernails. “I’m glad he’s all moved in though. He had a shitton of stuff. I should have asked Seungcheol to help on Thursday too. He would have been finished moving boxes before today.” 

From the coffee pot, Siyeon laughs. “No way. Seungcheol might have guns, but he wouldn’t have helped _that_ much. I would have asked the girls if I were you, but you chickened out.” 

“I never talk to them!” Soonyoung whines, stomping his foot. “I asked you to ask them!”

“You _should_ talk to them, Soonyoung. They are your coworkers too. I didn’t know you were literally scared of girls.” She makes a disapproving face, then turns her back on him as she pours the last of the coffee into her mug. “Nayoung and Hyerin were free. I told them that you wanted some help, but they didn’t even know who you were.” 

Jisoo stifles a laugh behind his hand as he collects his copies, paperclips them, then proceeds to pull the next paper out of his binder to make more copies. Soonyoung reaches out to smack him with a stack of pamphlets that Kyungwon had made about the yearly teacher schedule. 

“It’s just sad because they all know Mingyu and Wonwoo and they’ve been here for weeks.” Siyeon shakes her head, shutting the coffeemaker off. “You’ve been here for _years_. Hyerin and Nayoung were both working here when you were hired! Have you even introduced yourself to them?” 

Because there’s no way he’ll survive lying, Soonyoung pouts in her direction. Sighing, she starts to worry her lip. “I’ll meet them properly, alright? But I know everyone who works in this building. It doesn’t have to do with the fact they’re women. I don’t leave this building.” He tries to cover his ass, but it is a poor excuse. Even he realizes that. 

“Blah blah blah,” Siyeon rolls her eyes. “I’ll believe it when I see it, Soonyoung.” Holding up her drink, she declares her departure. “See ya’ll later. I have some children to teach unlike you two hooligans.” 

“Rude,” Jisoo glances over his shoulder. “You are just jealous that I have copier rights this morning.” 

Soonyoung snorts, hitting Jisoo again. “You have copier rights every morning, jackass. You get here before anyone and then don’t let anyone cut in.” Siyeon laughs alongside them, turning and almost running into Mingyu.

“Oh,” she smiles up at him. “You were almost wearing my coffee.” 

In good humor, he laughs, holding up a piece of paper. “As long as we can save my behavior report, I’m good.” The way he smiles is brilliant and has Siyeon smiling, seemingly forgetting her previous frustration. 

“We can manage to salvage the behavior report, I’m sure, but the shirt will have to go.” She teases bravely. Suddenly, Mingyu has faint color flooding onto his cheeks. “Well, I’ll also have to go. Let’s impact some lives today!” She holds up her fist, silently cheering everyone on before taking her leave. 

Mingyu watches her leave, then turns to catch Jisoo’s eye. “Can I cut in and make a copy really quick?” He asks, innocently blinking at Jisoo. Soonyoung leans forward, thoroughly entertained at the way that Jisoo freezes, then abruptly slams his finger against the cancel button. Only a boy as pretty as Kim Mingyu could make Jisoo act like a total baboon. 

“Sure,” he nods, moving out of the way. Soonyoung laughs, earning a hard glare from the older male. Unaware of the situation, Mingyu cuts in and places his paper down on the glass and closes the lid. “You could just run them through,” Jisoo says weakly and Soonyoung pushes away from the counter, unable to stay here without guffawing. 

“See you at lunch! I’m going to go bother someone else now!” Soonyoung waves as he makes his own exit, stopping by Seungcheol’s office just to say hello before waltzing his way out of the office and towards Wonwoo’s classroom. 

Only… Halfway to his classroom, he realizes that he doesn’t remember where Wonwoo’s classroom is. Or at least, his confidence is shaky. Or rather, he’s nervous about surprising him with a visit. 

So, he goes back to his own classroom, careful not to run into anyone on his way. 

. 

By the third month, they have a system again. The newbies blend in well and Soonyoung doesn’t have to help Wonwoo with grading papers or Mingyu with gathering extra supplies from the workroom. It’s a good system. Unexpectedly good considering there were new cogs in their machine. Still, they all managed to get it running back up to speed.

Still, there were times when the machine malfunctioned. 

.

“I’m pretty sure that’s Yongbok’s snot.” Wonwoo makes a half-disgusted, half-impressed face at the painting that’s been left out after class had ended. “That or he replicated the color of snot perfectly. What talent at such a young age.” He leans closer to inspect it and Soonyoung pushes him slightly. 

The gasp that leaves his mouth as he shoots back up to full height has Soonyoung doubling over in laughter. “I told him to leave it there because he’s so sick. He just sat there and sneezed most of the class, then whenever he wiped his nose, he got paint on his face. I can’t imagine being his parents when he gets home.” Stifling a laugh, Soonyoung walks back to the front of his classroom to collect his supplies for the training session that he’s supposed to attend. 

Instead of joining in with his booming laugh, Wonwoo stays quiet. When Soonyoung looks back up, he notices that Wonwoo is looking pointedly down. _Oh_ , he thinks, _something’s happened._

“He has it hard, I’ve heard.” Wonwoo says, more to the ground than to Soonyoung. 

“Yongbok?” Soonyoung tilts his head to the side; Wonwoo nods. “Damn, he’s such a happy kid… Did you have to report it? Or is it just strict?” Not that there is much of a difference nowadays. Most of the children that have a strict household are the ones suffering greatly behind closed doors. What Soonyoung had hoped was maybe it was harder for Yongbok because of the language barrier. Not knowing anything about his parents meant that Soonyoung couldn’t tell if they were as fluent as their child or not. If they moved to Korea though, he hoped they were. 

“I had to report it.” Pursing his lips, Wonwoo finally looks up at Soonyoung. He looks so tired that Soonyoung has to stop himself from going over to him and pulling him into a hug. “Yongbok had sat down with me. Luckily, it isn’t his parents, but he’s too scared to talk to his parents about it.” He continues when Soonyoung doesn’t interrupt him. “I never had to deal with these problems with adults. They all had therapists or internalized everything.” 

Nodding, Soonyoung fixes the strap on his bag and inclines his head so that Wonwoo knows to follow him towards the door. “Teaching adults is easier in a lot of ways.” He sympathizes. “You’ll discover a lot of difficulties with this age group, but he trusted you enough to open up. It takes kids awhile to do that anymore. Plus, if you reported it, then you followed protocol, so what’s bothering you?” 

Wonwoo reaches the door first and holds it open for Soonyoung. “I don’t know if I can get used to this.” His voice is a whisper. 

Impolitely, Soonyoung snorts. “I fucking hope you don’t get used to it. It’ll always be this hard, but if you weren’t there, then he wouldn’t have told you what was going on and it might’ve taken him years before he told anyone about it.” The way he’s brutally honest isn’t befitting of him, but he’s been where Wonwoo is now. The truth might help him see that this isn’t as miserable as it feels. Soonyoung sincerely hopes that it doesn’t rub Wonwoo the wrong way. 

“I…” Wonwoo starts, but he doesn’t know how to finish it. Luckily, Soonyoung is patient. He waits until Wonwoo just shakes his head. “You’re right.” 

It doesn’t feel like Soonyoung is, but he drops it. 

.

For weeks it stays like that between them. At first, Soonyoung had thought it was getting better, but it just got worse. They drifted farther away from each other. Just when they were getting close and things were working well, Wonwoo shifted out of focus. It confused Soonyoung. More appropriately, _Wonwoo_ confused Soonyoung. 

“Morning,” Jisoo is unusually happy for a Sunday morning. So unusually happy that Soonyoung almost makes him get out of his car. “I’ve only heard good things about this cafe from Mingyu, so I’m excited we finally get to go.” 

Soonyoung rolls his eyes, shaking himself away from his thoughts as he pulls out of Jisoo’s driveway. “Yeah, but did we really have to go out at seven? I thought there were days when we actually got to sleep in. I’m still alive _because_ of those days.” His joke isn’t well received, but it could be because Jisoo is on his phone, typing away. “If that’s Mingyu, I get to throw your phone out the window.” Soonyoung glances over at Jisoo again, giving him a wounded expression. 

“You can’t throw my phone out the window no matter who it is.” Jisoo says, sticking his tongue out. Still, he doesn’t look away from his phone. It must be Mingyu. It absolutely has to be. 

“Hey,” Jisoo says after a somewhat comfortable silence has encompassed them. “Are you and Wonwoo okay? I noticed that you two aren’t talking as much. Or well, he’s not talking to anyone. Mingyu pointed out he wasn’t talking to you, but when I started paying attention, I noticed he wasn’t talking to anyone anymore. Hardly even Mingyu.” 

The question throws Soonyoung off. He stops abruptly at the red light, wheels screeching. The roads are bare, though, so Jisoo is the only one who notices him falter. “He had some… troubles with the job. I think he’s rethinking it all.” Before Jisoo can yell at him for reckless driving, he decides to respond to the current topic. It’ll get him into less trouble. “I’m surprised he agreed to go out today, honestly.” Drumming his thumbs against the steering wheel, he looks both ways, waiting for the light to change. 

It changes in an instant. 

Humming, Jisoo leans back in his seat. “Turn left at the next light.” 

Soonyoung does as he says, but Jisoo remains silent beside him. When he risks a glance, Jisoo is staring at him, not at his phone. It nearly gives him a heart attack, but he remembers that he’s in charge of his and Jisoo’s lives right now. “What?” He asks, face flushing a dangerous shade of red. It gives him away immediately. 

“We all have troubles with the job,” Jisoo ignores his question. “I hope you only gave him good enough advice to keep him. We need someone like Wonwoo on the job.” 

Nodding in response, Soonyoung keeps his attention on the road as he turns right at the next intersection, weaving through the light traffic. “He’s great with everyone.” If he keeps the responses light, then maybe Jisoo won’t pick up on the rather large crush that Soonyoung has on Wonwoo. Well, except Jisoo sees and knows everything. As honest as he is, he can see the honesty in other people as well. Soonyoung likes to think of it as his own personal talent. 

Another red light stops them. 

_Please don’t keep talking_ , Soonyoung tries to send Jisoo the mental message, but it obviously doesn’t work when Jisoo flips his phone over. Now his attention is fully on Soonyoung. “He’s great with everyone, yes, but he’s great with _you_ in particular. We all know that’s rare.” With a laugh, he flips his phone back over, touching the home button to check his notifications. None of them appear to be Mingyu since Jisoo just flips his phone back over. 

“Please don’t try to assume anything about our relationship,” Soonyoung pleads. “I hardly know him and we’ve been working together for months already.” 

“It takes time,” Jisoo whispers, speaking from experience if Soonyoung’s own assumptions are correct. “Wonwoo doesn’t seem to open up easily, but if he told you about his worries… I’d say that’s progress. Just help him through this. At the end, you both will be thankful you were there.” 

He hates that Jisoo is probably right. 

“Turn here.” Jisoo instructs abruptly. “This is the place.” 

. 

Breakfast ends on a good note. 

“You two were flirting the whole time!” Soonyoung exclaims as soon as they are in the parking lot. Mingyu looks positively horrified by the mere suggestion, but Jisoo just looks bashful. “To think I actually had to sit through that. To think Wonwoo had to!” 

Turning around, Soonyoung comes face-to-face with Wonwoo. Immediately, he can feel his face start to heat up. _Fuck!_ He thinks, rather crudely, before turning back around. He doesn’t miss the smile on Wonwoo’s face though. It makes him feel lighter than he has in days. “I have to listen to it all the time. They invite me out to third wheel all the time.” 

“You bastard!” Soonyoung reaches out to slap Jisoo’s arm as he laughs. “Why haven’t I been invited to third wheel? I’m your _best friend_.” 

Mingyu and Wonwoo join in on the laughter. “I’m usually the one dragging Wonwoo along. Jisoo’s been trying to ask me out for weeks now, but I keep bringing Wonwoo along.” 

“He’s scared he’ll make a fool out of himself.” Wonwoo shakes his head. “Then he just ignores me whenever I kick him underneath the table for saying something fucking idiotic.” At that, Soonyoung laughs. The relationship that Wonwoo and Mingyu has is special; it reminds him of how Jisoo and him are at times. 

“At least I put myself out there,” Mingyu whispers and Soonyoung is pretty sure he shouldn’t have heard it. With the way that Wonwoo’s ears go red, he wishes he hadn’t. They lock gazes, but Soonyoung panics and looks towards his car. 

There’s more whispering, but Soonyoung makes sure to tune it out and they make sure to speak more quietly. Jisoo notices his expression, shooting him a worried look, but he can’t manage to get into right now. His head doesn’t know what to make of Mingyu’s statement or Wonwoo’s look. All he knows is that he’s going through internal, emotional turmoil now. 

It is Mingyu that brings them all back into the moment. “Thanks for having us out.” He smiles. “I’m going to be headed to the gym or I’d stay and talk.” Wonwoo looks stricken for a moment, or maybe it is just Soonyoung’s imagination. However, Jisoo steps forward and pulls him into a hug. It’s amazing how he isn’t even embarrassed to do so. 

“Thanks for coming,” he says, finally parting ways with Mingyu (who all but runs to his car). 

Which leaves Wonwoo with them. 

_Oh_. “I think he’s ditching you,” Jisoo laughs. Actually laughs about it. “Soonyoung can take you home, no worries.” 

“I can?” It comes out like a question, but Jisoo just ignores him, opening the passenger side door and escorting Wonwoo into the car. Ideally, they have no other choice since Soonyoung isn’t going to just leave him here. So, Soonyoung waits until they are both in the car before climbing in himself. “Where to?” He leans over to his GPS after starting the car. 

Jisoo, from the backseat, sticks his hands out to stop him. “Do you have plans today? You can come with us if you are free. Soonyoung forgets his manners, really.” He asserts while Soonyoung makes a mental note to have a stern conversation about boundaries with him later. 

Wonwoo shakes his head. “I have to get home or I’d love to.” Soonyoung risks a glance at him at the same time Wonwoo turns to look at him. “But here, let me type in where you can drop me off. It won’t take any longer to get there. I’ve had this planned for weeks, but I only recently had the free time to go.” He laughs, fondly as he takes the GPS and plots their destination. Risking a glance at the screen, Soonyoung notices that he’s typed in the name of an animal shelter. 

“Adopting?” Soonyoung asks, rather intelligently. 

Nodding, Wonwoo smiles. “...and volunteering.” 

_Oh_ . Abruptly, Soonyoung’s brain stops working properly because he’s positive that he might be falling in love with Wonwoo, but he shoves that thought _immediately_ into the back of his mind. Feelings can be dealt with later. There’s no way he can go through this right now, but with how kind-hearted and seemingly perfect Wonwoo is, he’s once again in awe and totally smitten. 

And of course, Jisoo sees right through him. 

**Author's Note:**

> Stay tuned for the next part! Thank you so much for reading and giving this story a chance even if it isn't finished quite yet.


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